No. All discussions with any insurance company should take place after you have been advised of your rights and consulted with a lawyer. Insurance companies fully understand if you provide your lawyer’s name and telephone number, and request that all initial discussions be with your lawyer.

You shouldn’t. The forms should be completed by an accident benefits coordinator. Completion of the forms the correct way requires skill and experience. The omission or incorrect usage of a phrase or a sentence can have long-term detrimental consequences.

You can receive income replacement benefits through your accident benefit insurance company. An income replacement benefit will pay 70% of your gross loss of income up to a maximum of $400.00 per week. You may also be entitled to receive short-term disability benefits and/or long-term disability benefits through either a privately held insurance policy or a group policy of insurance purchased by your employer. Lastly, you may apply to Canada Pension Plan for a disability pension in certain circumstances. In addition to these benefits, you are entitled to claim for remaining loss of income in your lawsuit.

If you were the primary caregiver for someone in your home before the accident and you are not able to continue providing care after the accident, you may be entitled to receive caregiver benefits of up to $250.00 per week. You may be entitled to an additional $50.00 per week for every other person you were taking care of before the accident.
Even if you were not the primary caregiver for someone in your home, you may be entitled to non-earner benefits of $185.00 per week, beginning six months after the accident, if you are completely unable to carry on a normal life. You must be at least 16-years-old to receive non-earner benefits.

Those injured by a negligent owner or possessor of a premise may recover damages for their injuries, including, loss of income, medical expenses, pain and suffering, etc. If you have been injured on someone else’s property, contact us immediately so that we can begin assessing your case. Also, consider not giving an interview to insurance adjusters or investigators hired by insurance companies until you have consulted with a lawyer first. It always good to consult with a lawyer and know your rights.

There are many different avenues to take if you are not currently insured. Your accident benefit claim may proceed through the at fault driver or alternatively through the Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund. Ask the lawyer which avenue applies to you. What if I was involved in a car accident which was not my fault but I do not have any insurance; do I still have a case? Yes, so long as the party at-fault has insurance. His or her insurance company will pay for the damage to your vehicle and for your pain and suffering. As mentioned in the answer to question number 2, your medical bills will be paid at the conclusion of your case from the settlement proceeds.

This is a common question that most of our prospective clients ask during their initial consultations. There are several factors to consider, before we can estimate the value of your case. By gaining a better understanding of your injuries, we will be able to determine if there is going to be any future considerations. For instance, an injury that is minor today can become quite serious in the future. As a result, there would be medical bills, lost opportunities and lost wages (past & future) to consider, all of which would factor into determining the true value of your case. We can discuss your situation at length during your initial consultation.

Any and all reasonable and necessary medical and rehabilitation benefits incurred should be paid by the insurance company. The amount of benefits will depend on the nature of the injury and whether or not you have suffered a “catastrophic impairment”. If the person is not catastrophic, you are entitled to a maximum of $100,000.00 in medical and rehabilitation expenses. Please ask the lawyer under which category your injury falls.

General Damages- Damages for pain and suffering Income loss- damages for lost income as a result of an accident or loss of competitive advantage Out-of pocket expenses- expenses incurred as a result of an accident (ie: housekeeping help, prescriptions, medical rehabilitation) Bad Faith damages- damages awarded if the opposing party has done something so “high-handed” that it warrants damages over and above all other headings

Many of you are aware of such social networking sites such as ‘Facebook’ or ‘Myspace’ on the Internet. Such sites allow users to post information on the web about their personal life including pictures, blogs, messages and even updates on day-to-day activities. Although these sites may seem private and fun to you, they can have a damaging effect on your legal case.

Under the Rules of Civil Procedure, rule 30.06 states that “a party has a positive obligation to disclose every relevant document in a party’s possession…”

Until recently, defense lawyers in personal injury actions had to prove that there was relevant material on a social networking site to ask for the content of that network page; However, a recent decision handed down at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Leduc v. Roman 2009 CanLII 6838 has clarified the Court’s position.

Justice Brown heard an appeal from Master Dash’s Order, stating the following: Material on ‘Facebook’ may be relevant to a personal injury action. Although information contained on the profile, may speak to the activities and health of the plaintiff before and after the alleged injuries, the evidence provided by defense counsel with respect to content of those pictures, was purely speculative and therefore not ordered.

Justice Brown reviewed Master Dash’s decision and quoted the “Terms of Use” posted by ‘Facebook’. It stated that the site “is a social utility that connects you with the people around you”. Justice Brown went on to state that “Although web-based social networking sites like ‘Facebook’ and ‘Myspace’ are recent phenomena, posted content constitutes data and information in electronic form as documents under the Rules of Civil Procedure.” Furthermore, it was decided that this electronic information was in possession and control of the plaintiff as he had the ability to post and remove information at his own will.

The Court found that a person who maintains a private profile is in no different position than someone with a public profile. Both parties would be obliged to produce all the information in the profile. Because ‘Facebook’ is a utility to share information with others, all information posted would not be considered privileged.

However, the one shining light that a plaintiff may take from this case, is that mere existence of a ‘Facebook’ profile does not entitle a party to gain access to everything on the site. Most evidence relating to the existence of evidence on these sites will be determined at Examinations for Discovery. However if defense counsel asks the plaintiff about their network profiles; the answers may conclude that there is enough evidence to produce the complete profile.

CONCLUSION

It is important that you are aware of the above noted decision given your case at hand. We would recommend that you do not publish material on the site while you are involved in a personal injury action and in fact delete or suspend your profile indefinitely until resolution. However it you insist on keeping a profile on one of these sites, be aware of what is posted by yourself and your friends as they may have damaging consequences to the outcome of your case.